Property Taxes Each year the City of Newton determines fair market value of properties as of the prior January 1. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue requires that assessments meet strict statistical tests to ensure that they accurately reflect the market and are applied consistently. Property taxes 1 is defined as “an assessment of ownership of real and personal property. An owner’s property tax is based on the assessment, which is the full and fair cash value of the property” by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. In 1980, Proposition 2½ 2 was passed by the voters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which restricts how much a city/town can raise property taxes. The law requires that the annual increase of the tax levy for the City of Newton must not exceed 2.5% of the prior year’s tax levy, in addition to the total amount attributable to taxes raised from new real property growth and redevelopment. FY2026 property tax revenue is estimated to total $460.4 million, an increase of $23 million or 5.3%. This includes a 2.5% increase allowed by Proposition 2 ½ ($10.9 million), increased taxes from “new growth and redevelopment” ($6.7 million), and increased taxes to support newly issued bonds on projects approved by the Mayor and City Council. The table below shows the City of Newton Property Valuations and tax rate 3
City of Newton: Property Valuations & Tax Rates
Category
FY20
FY21
FY22
FY23
FY24
FY25
FY26
Population
88,863 88,100 87,900 88,415 87,453 88978
90700
Residential value
$28.6B $28.9B $31.1B $33.7B $37.1B $38.6B
$41.1B
Commercial value
$2.50B $2.54B $2.59B $2.65B $2.59B $2.56B
$2.58B
Industrial value
$203M $212M $200M $215 M $231M
$231M
$239M
Personal value
$472M $483M $484M $505M
$581M
$608M
$633M
Total Valuation
$32B
$32B
$34B
$37B
$40B
$42B
$44.5B
Res. Tax Rate/$1000 Val $10.44 $10.76 $10.52 $10.18 $9.76
$9.80
$9.69
Com Tax Rate/$1000 Val $19.92 $20.12 $19.95 $19.07 $18.33 $18.34
$18.06
To reduce the tax burden on residential property, the city of Newton voted to shift the more of the tax levy onto commercial/industrial/personal property owners with the maximum allowable shift for Newton being 175%. This process is done by multiplying the percentage value of the commercial, industrial, and personal property classes by 175% (1.75) to determine the increased percentage of
1 MA Municipal Property Taxes 2 Proposition 2 ½ & Tax Rate Process 3 City of Newton Property Tax Classification FY19-25
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